Qualys On Deck for IPO, Prices at $12 a Share

Security specialist Qualys becomes the latest tech company to take the public plunge on Friday.

James Rogers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Security specialist Qualys becomes the latest tech company to take the public plunge on Friday when it starts trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol QLYS.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based company's offering of 7,575,000 shares was priced at $12 a share late on Thursday, at the midpoint of its range of $11 to $13.

The cloud security and compliance specialist, which competes with Check Point Software(:CHKP) and Cisco(:CSCO), has racked up more than 5,800 customers worldwide, touting most of the Forbes Global 100 and Fortune 100 as customers. Qualys also counts IBM (:IBM), Symantec(:SYMC), Verizon(:VZ), Dell(:DELL) SecureWorks and BT (:BT) as partners.

According to its S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Qualys brought in revenue of $76.2 million in 2011, up from $65.4 million in 2010 and $57.4 million in 2009. For the first six months of 2012, the company's revenue was $43.4 million.

Another security specialist, Palo Alto Networks(:PANW), enjoyed a successful IPO in July. The company's shares have risen more than 22% since its offering.